Scootering Magazine - June 2014 - Sample Edition

First Ride The new Vespa GTS300 Scootering | #336 June 2014

Lambretta

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GT kits Back to back

No.336 June 2014

on test Get stickering folks, and send us a photo of your decorated scooter!

Whitby

&

Tenby

Scooter Rallies

Back to Basics

Fitting engine mounts

www.scootering.com

Rare

BMW R10 scooter

Also

Shopping

with the ladies!

V4-Power

400cc Lambretta

Modstock celebrating 40 years of Mod, ceramic coating exhausts, scooter racing from Wales and Cadwell Park, LCGB C2C & loads more!

BSSO Scooter Racing

Round 3

Cadwell Park

Welcome to Round 3 of the 2014 BSSO championship at the Cadwell Park Superprix, a quirky name for a quirky sport.

Mikey Bonett wheelies past Bert Conneely over the Mountain for the last time of the weekend, to win his class in the final race.

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ractice went well, my PSN tuned Gilera Runner was flying, so on to Race 1 of our four race, eight lap programme.

SUNDAY RACE 1

Geared scooters at the front of the grid, autos to the rear and a delayed start. Some 32 seconds later we’re off. Towards the end of the first lap we catch the newcomers of the geared grid. Craig Bewey leading the charge followed by myself and Scott Chapman. Further ahead Stuart Day is leading the overall field followed by Rob Rees.

As the laps click by, Craig pulls away and Rob takes the lead. Steve and Richard Conneely are locked in a brilliant race-long battle for Group 4 honours, but unknown to them Mikey Bonett has other ideas. Mikey pounces on them at Mansfield Corner and holds them off to the flag. A second in class for me was not a bad start to the day.

GEARED 1 Rees, 2 Day, 3 Bonett AUTOS 1 Bewey, 2 Woods, 3 Chapman

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RACE 2

As the lights go out I have no idea of my pending problems. Rob gets a flyer but only leads for one lap, then Stuart takes over.

Craig gets the lead of the autos from Scott and I, but Scott nips past me at Park Corner.

Lap three and my misfire has started so now I’m on borrowed time. Rob manages to retake the lead and Richard and Steve continue their Race 1 battle.

As Rob approaches the Mountain on lap six he gets a wobble on, then face plants the Tarmac, knocking himself clean out. The race is quickly red-flagged as Rob receives medical attention and we are all cleared off the track. Luckily he comes round and despite the impact is okay.

GEARED 1 Day, 2 R Conneely, 3 S Conneely AUTOS 1 Bewey, 2 Chapman, 3 Woods

1: Rob Rees, winner of race 1.

2: Mad Dog McKenzie on the up over the Mountain.

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WELCOME

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o what grabbed your attention first, the sheet of free stickers or the fine selection of Lambrettas riding across the front cover this month?

Hello and welcome to the June edition of Scootering, with apologies to overseas readers in some countries as apparently you don’t get the free stickers I’m referring to here – sorry! Nevermind though, because you still get the same fantastic content which this month includes our first test ride of the new Vespa GTS 300 Sport which features both anti-locking brakes and traction control. Who’d have thought it, eh?

Sticky’s also been busy, very busy in fact, getting together a selection of GT kitted Lambrettas to offer a group kit test you won’t see anywhere else, getting the real feel of the bikes that we all ride, rather than something prepared by a shop.

Elsewhere Barrie follows up last month’s guide to scooter suspension (which if you missed it you’ll be pleased to learn that back issues are available from Scootering’s online shop at www.scootering.com) by changing his Lambretta engine mounts in

Back to Basics. We also take a look at ceramic coating exhaust pipes and go shopping with the ladies to see how hard it is to get some riding kit that looks good, fits well and does the job.

On the social side we have reports from Whitby BSRA scooter rally and Modfest from the Easter weekend, and hot off the press a review of the Tenby scooter rally too, from deepest Wales.

Speaking of ‘the latest news’, there’s also a scooter racing report from Cadwell Park which also took place over the May Bank Holiday weekend, as well of course as all the usual amazing scooters, music reviews and some exciting product information. Enjoy…

Andy

Next month…

We’ll have more scooter racing, a report from the BSRA scooter rally at Kelso in Scotland, more Back to Basics, a test ride on the new Piaggio MP3 scooters, some more gorgeous scooters to drool over as well as a rare 1920s British Unibus scooter!

www.scootering.com www.scootertrader.com Editor: Andy Gillard Email: editorial@scootering.com Publisher: Steve Rose Contributors: Sticky, Richie Lunt, Barrie Braithwaite, Iggy, Sargie, Jordan Lewis, Dave Oakley, AM, Tori, Cindy, Isabell, Lobby, John Woods, Lee Hollick and Lee Daniels.

Many thanks to all other scooterists and clubs that have also contributed to this issue in some way.

Cover: Photography by Sticky Designer: Charlotte Turnbull Reprographics: Simon Duncan Group production editor: Tim Hartley General queries and back issues: Tel: 01507 529529 24 hr answerphone Email: help@classicmagazines.co.uk www.classicmagazines.co.uk Archivist: Jane Skayman Tel: 01507 529423 Email: jskayman@mortons.co.uk Subscription: Full subscription rates (but see page 28 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £47.88. Export rates are also available – see page 28 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax. Distribution: Comag, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middx UB7 7QE Tel: 01895 433600 Printed by: William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton

TRADE ADVERTISING Gary Thomas – gthomas@mortons.co.uk Colin Smith – csmith@mortons.co.uk Tel (01507) 524004 Fax (01507) 529499 Divisional advertising manager: Sandra Fisher Email: sfisher@mortons.co.uk

ADVERTISING DEADLINES

The advertising deadline for the next issue of Scootering (July 2014) is Thursday, June 5, 2014 On sale in newsagents June 26, 2014

Free ads, personals, club do’s & events These are all to be booked via the website at www.scootering.com or via post to: Scootering Magazine, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ The next free ads deadline is Wednesday, June 4, 2014

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Subscription manager: Paul Deacon pdeacon@mortons.co.uk Circulation manager: Steven O’Hara sohara@mortons.co.uk Marketing manager: Charlotte Park Email: cpark@mortons.co.uk Production manager: Craig Lamb Publishing director: Dan Savage Commercial director: Nigel Hole Associate director: Malcolm Wheeler SCOOTERING (USPS:020-245) is published monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ USA subscriptions are $60 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Bancroft, WI and additional entries.

Postmaster: Send address changes to SCOOTERING, c/o Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715-572-4595. chris@classicbikebooks.com SCOOTERING is published by: Mortons Scooter Media, a division of Mortons Media Group Ltd © 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any way without the written permission of the publishers. ISSN 0268 7194

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CONTENTS 03Hello & welcome...

92Ceramic Coating

06Kickstart

94Specialist Services

It’s June, the rally season is well under way, and here’s the latest edition of Scootering!

Packed full of information from news and reviews of products and events, to archive material, opinions, rumours and whispers, Workshop Essentials, old custom scooters from yesteryear, handy hints, readers’ letters, personals and plenty more.

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Scootering Oddballs

A very rare BMW prototype scooter from the early 1950s.

Nuclear technology for your humble scooter, via Formula 1. Intrigued?

We were too.

Whatever you want, from platers to painters, you’ll find them all here.

97Scooter Trader

Classified and business advertising, for all your scootering needs.

Going Shopping – 114 do the ladies get a rough deal?

We go shopping for female rider gear to see what’s what.

30Lambretta GT Kit Test 130Modstock 2014 First Road – The new 382014 Vespa GTS 300 134Lambretta 400 Five scooters, five kits and one day to test them all back to back.

Antilock brakes, traction control, Bluetooth technology... on a Vespa?

– 44Flamebreather Keeps on Burning From high mileage resto to custom Series 1 Lambretta.

50Club do’s & events Coast to 52LCGB Coast Run

A calendar of scooter related events.

Celebrating 60 years of Mod in the media.

If you were consider tackling your first scooter engine transplant, is a V4 Honda motor the best to begin with?

Racing 143Scooter BSSO Rounds 2 & 3 The 2014 season continues in Anglesey and Cadwell Park.

146Into the Sunset

Another of your tales of trials and tribulation. Keep ’em coming folks!

Same direction, different route.

60Whitby Scooter Rally The Easter break in a picturesque seaside town – if you were there, we hope you enjoyed the ride!

70Tenby Scooter Rally A trip to Wales for the May Bank Holiday. Tidy.

78The Tartan Cypriot

When was the last time you saw a restored Vespa Primavera? Here’s one from Cyprus.

82Back to Basics

Following last month’s suspension guide, Barrie changes his Lambretta engine mounts.

Scootering – 88Practical Staff Scooters Barrie’s preparing for the Tre Mari in Italy.

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KICKSTART

WORKSHOP ESSENTIALS

Each month we’ll be visiting a scooter shop somewhere in this wide world of ours – whether its speciality be restos or racers, engineering or basic servicing – and heading into the workshop to find out what the people there consider essential to keeping it running smoothly.

This month we dropped in on Paul Melici at PM Tuning...

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n 1986 the Rothmans street racer Vespa graced the pages of Scootering magazine, with its radical over-the-top exhaust and slick race paint. As a result both it and the name of the shop responsible, PM Tuning, have been ingrained in my mind ever since.

Since the 1980s Paul Melici’s company has become synonymous with the production of performance exhausts for both Vespa and Lambretta scooters, numerous aftermarket upgrade brands and products and was one of the first classic scooter businesses to embrace the modern auto scene, more recently involvement with the Scomadi scooter marque. There’s quite a lot there when you think about it...

So Paul, what’s your essential?

A Dyna Pro Eddy Brake Dynamometer. It is an absolutely invaluable tool for our profession.

Why is that?

It allows us to accurately test and log all the parameters such as head temperatures, gas emissions, power output. The final results allow us to develop exhaust and performance parts in a fraction of the time it would take with the traditional method of going out on the road or track with all the associated risks of squeezing the most out of a scooter in an uncontrolled environment.

What’s the ‘Eddy Brake’ about?

What makes the tool especially effective is the load cell feature which allows us to enter the machine’s coefficient wind drag factors in order to avoid an unrealistic runaway top speed, normally associated with an ‘inertia type’ dyno. This feature also serves to apply ever-increasing loads on the engine which can have a significant effect on jetting and ignition tuning.

So, for example, if you were running a motocross bike through sand, that would be different to running it on the road and you would configure the dyno to accommodate that, also uphill, into a headwind, you can consider many different variants.

The dyno room at PM Tuning gets used so much it has almost become Paul’s second home!

So it’s more than a regular dyno?

Yes. But don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with an inertia dyno. It is perfect for most scooter shops as they are testing products or engines – most of the development work they do is far less involved than us so an inertia dyno is just fine. But for us, the Eddy Brake is far more accurate for the type of work we do during development; the Eddy gives you a more controlled environment. For example, you can test an ignition at 2000, then 4000, then 6000rpm and so on, and it will steptest it at each level you’ve set. With an inertia dyno you’d have to control it all by the throttle manually and when you roll on and off the throttle off, you remove load from the engine or overshoot. The Eddy however can hold it at preset levels with constant load.

When did you first get a dyno?

We were the first scooter dealer in the UK to operate a dyno back around ’88 or ’89, a Solurai, which was pretty basic. About six months later MSC got the same dyno, then Taffspeed got one too. This is now the fourth one we’ve bought.

What have you developed recently with it?

We’ve been using it to configure the latest Pamakits we import from Italy for the classic geared two-stroke Vespas, to get the

best out of those kits. The current project is four-stroke porting work aided by a Flowbench machine which calculates air movement through the ports. That’s for the latest Piaggio engines like the Vespa GTS. Do you still go out and do final testing of any products on the road?

We do, and it’s an important part of any development, to satisfy ourselves that the results we get on the dyno relate to road use.

It used to take six weeks on the road to do what we can in a day or two on the dyno. We have that much experience now that we can instantly tell from a reading on the dyno how a scooter or part will react on the road, from torque trail to air fuel ratio, it’s all there on the screen and in real time. It tells you so much more than you can get out on the road, but road tests are still important to make sure everything is as you’d expect it.

DETA I L S Name: Paul Melici Job: Owner of PM Tuning Location: Morecambe, Lancs Last scooter ridden: A Scomadi production 50 at the factory in China Workshop essential: Dyna Pro Eddy Brake Dynamometer

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KICKSTART

Oxfordshire Scooter Alliance (and friends) Custom Show With a fortnight to go before the rally season commenced, what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than to check out the results of fellow scooterists’ winter build projects?

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lthough the weather was overcast the threatened rain thankfully held off until after the trophy presentation. Needless to say a seriously impressive and healthy amount of scooters and scooterists made the effort to ride to the event. The only trickle that became torrential was the stream of scooters arriving.

All classes were well subscribed and an excellent range of vastly different looking scooters on display gave the punters plenty to see.

Several caught my eye including a neat 1964 V90, an unrestored yellow ochre Jet 200, several classic restorations including a superb GS burgundy and cream GS with gold pinstriping. The latter won best of show. A real oddity based around a Vespa had plenty of attention, as did a tidy BP Street Racer. Quality in all categories of show entries was high.

Among the scooters not entered in the show there were more than a few potential contenders, had their owners entered their machines in one or more of the classes. An interesting Lambretta Series 1

with no paint whatsoever, fitted with a 230 motor, turned up in the afternoon that also attracted a fair amount of admirers. When signing in, show entrants were given a duster featuring the Oxfordshire Scooter Alliance logo, a great idea and souvenir.

Some of which were put to use by show entrants giving their pride and joy a quick rub down to remove road dirt accumulated en route.

A DJ set up in one corner provided a suitable soundtrack to proceedings, at a background level of volume, which was just right. Dave Jeff’ from Screaming Scooters website, sponsors of best of show, was on site along with a couple of female models.

During a photoshoot featuring the girls posing on the leather covered Lambretta chop, the quip “look, she’s sat on my chopper, she’s touched my helmet,” raised laddish laughs from the many onlookers.

Also among the patrons was local legend Dave Clark, of Dave Clark Motorcycles. For scooterists in and around the Oxford area, Clarky is the man to take your scooter to for an MoT. His experience with scooters dates way back to when he was the specialist mechanic at

Oiltek flywheel holding tool Barnsley-based firm Oiltek has just released this multi-purpose flywheel tool which is laser-cut from 5mm steel and is zinc plated.

It has the hexagonal cut out to fit BGM and Varitronic flywheels, and with the fitment of the two 8mm threaded pins it also fits two-slot SIL flywheels. The retail cost of this tool is £15 inc VAT + £3.50 postage to the UK. For more info visit www.oiltek.co.uk

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Kings Motorcycles headquarters in Oxford city centre, Kings being renowned scooter dealers in the south.

Although well into his seventies and semi retired, Clarky spent the day chatting with many, he also had sponsored the best smallframe category.

Sturdy’s Castle, the host venue, a hotel/restaurant, is a regular rideout destination for a number of scooter clubs in the area. It was formerly known locally as ‘The Spud Pub’, as it specialised in baked potatoes with a variety of fillings. The recent new owner has moved on from that menu, though he did show himself up as a bit of a

‘Spud’. Mr Potato Head and his early in the day vitriolic tirades excepted, the outdoor scooter custom show was an overwhelming success. Numbers of attendees and entries way exceeded expectations. Talking scoots, admiring scoots and spending time with like-minded scooterists while having a few cold ones, that’s how Sunday afternoons should be spent.

Huge credit to Oxfordshire Scooter Alliance and friends, especially Vince Wooloff, for a top event. Hopefully it will become a fixture in the annual calendar, as this has potential to blossom and bloom.

Sarge

J O H N ’ S GT200 SX Kit: GT200 single port – Porcupine head Exhaust: BGM Clubman (road) Franspeed Race (on dyno) Carb: Dellorto 30mm PHBH Filter: Breathe Sweet Filter Ignition: Indian Electronic Crankshaft: MEC John’s GT200 SX remains in broadly standard Lambretta layout, but is the next step up in terms of performance thanks to a bigger carb, a free-flowing air filter system and a far superior exhaust in the form of an MBGM Clubman.

His 30mm carb is fitted with a Tino Sacchi ‘Breathe Sweet’ 90º inlet adaptor and foam filter. These actually boost airflow through the carb to such an extent that it is normally essential to increase the main jet size to suit. Besides having clean air to breathe, which reduces wear to both engine and carburettor, the other benefit is that the bodywork remains largely free of oil and fuel.

Using a remote filter on a piston-ported engine can make it difficult to start when hot.

This is because fuel spray puddles inside the hose, but the reed valve of the GT kit reduces carb spray significantly and John’s scooter consistently started without trouble.

Peak power output with the MBGM Clubman was a very respectable 18.8hp at 7600rpm with 14lb-ft of torque over a wide range from 5000-7500rpm. As a bolt-on, that’s pretty decent.

On the road John’s GT200 motor feels both very smooth and eager to rev. Best top speed down the lanes was 73.6mph by GPS, but it felt like it would happily do more on the open road.

As an experiment on the dyno we swapped John’s MBGM Clubman for a Franspeed Race to get a back-to-back comparison between an expansion and a box pipe on the same single-port GT200 kit. Peak power shot up to 22.1hp at 5700rpm with peak torque now just shy of 18lb-ft. Again, those are highly respectable figures for a bolt-on 200cc kit; as is the 46.6mpg fuel economy we recorded.

M I K ’ S GT200 GP Kit: GT200 bridge port Exhaust: Franspeed Race Carb: Dellorto 30mm PHBH Filter: None Ignition: Indian Electronic Crankshaft: Italian 58mm stroke Mik’s engine is very much a development donkey for the GT200, and currently his GP is running an experimental barrel Using red oil without an air filter with a much wider, bridge makes it look like there’s been a exhaust port. For a bolt-on murder under Mik’s panels.

200cc kit with only a 30mm carb, then 22.4hp and 18lb-ft of torque is highly respectable.

On the road the Franspeed Race pipe gives this engine quite an exhilarating but sharp kick in the pants, taking you suddenly from 10hp at 5000rpm to 18hp only 1000rpm further on. Again the motor is happy to bridge the gaps in a four-speed box thanks to a willingness to exceed 8500rpm through the gears, but it really is crying out for a five-speed box to help make best use of its power.

To be honest I was surprised that the bridge port kit was not significantly more powerful than John’s single port version when running the same exhaust and carb, but the graphs are remarkably similar.

By the time I got a go on Mik’s scooter we were riding into a headwind and his scooter wasn’t keen to go much over 72mph into the wind. Despite being thoroughly thrashed through the gears it still registered 39.5mpg.

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E D E N ’ S GT230 Kit: GT200 single port bored to suit 70mm TS1 piston Exhaust: Franspeed Race Carb: Dellorto PHBH30 Filter: None Ignition: Indian electronic Crankshaft: 60 stroke Italian Eden’s machine shows the power that is available from a big block Big-bore GT conversions require an GT with very little additional alloy packer under the reed block to work. His has been rebored from prevent the petals from touching 66 to 70mm and had the the piston. exhaust port raised slightly to give 189º timing when utilised with a 60mm stroke crank. The only other changes required were to reprofile the cylinder head to suit, and to fit a packer under the reed block.

Raising the engine capacity improves the power before the expansion chamber starts to take effect, so that at 5000rpm it is making 11.6hp (16% more than Mik’s) which is plenty for pottering around town.

Once the motor gets into its power band it really is fun. It hits 24hp at 6500rpm, makes peak power of 27hp at 8200rpm and is still making 24hp at 9000rpm. That’s fast for a mildly-tweaked kit – taking the scooter to 85mph by GPS – but it introduces a couple of compromises. The first is that you need a really well-built engine (crank, bearings and clutch) if you plan to spin it round to 9000rpm through every gear. The second issue is whether a cast iron barrel with a big bore can utilise that much power for long without running into cooling and seizure problems.

Certainly none of the 200cc versions seemed to suffer with cooling problems on our 50 mile thrash around the country, but it may be that 235cc, 27hp and 9000rpm are asking just a little too much of the GT concept without more attention being paid to supersafe ignition timing and jetting.

Eden’s 230 unsurprisingly offered the worst fuel consumption of the test at 38mpg, which sounds comparatively bad until he mentions that his piston-ported cast iron 240 only managed 26mpg average on the way to Modrapheniacs rally a few weeks before.

VERDICT I’ve been a fan of the GT186 kit for ages, and now I’m equally impressed by the GT200. It remains unique in offering the convenience of reed valve induction out of the box without any need to cut off the battery tray or run a big carb. It’s perfect if you want to run a remote filter under the bodywork because it will still start easily and won’t make any mess.

What hasn’t changed, though, is that the cylinder kit market for 200cc casings remains flooded with options.

Indeed recent ones like the Ron Moss Avanti and MBGM RT225 have raised the game in piston-port performance kits to comparable power levels, while at the same time offering the advantage of alloy-Nikasil’s superior cooling. With the GT200 kit entering this fray, a tough buying decision just got even tougher…

Sticky ■ Thanks to all the GT crew, particularly Ted Dale for helping out with the photos.

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1: Brenda Holloway, The Velvelettes (and Merton Mick). 2 & 3: Squire. 4 &5: Secret Affair.

The ModstockWeekender Modstock happens once a decade and for 2014 it coincided with marking the Golden Jubilee of Mod arriving in the national and international consciousness.

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pread over four days and nights of the Easter weekend at 229 The Venue in London’s West End, Modstock, under the New Untouchables banner, offered something for every sub-division of the Mod movement.

Thursday night got the weekend off to a flying start, mod revival trailblazers Squire and Secret Affair appearing live together for the first time since they were label mates at I-Spy. Splitting the duo live on stage were The Apemen, giving a quality triple bill of post ’79 outfits, all three bands delivered.

Friday gave us the Motown Revue with both Brenda Holloway and The Velvelettes in fine form, delivering crowdpleasers from their respective back catalogues. Keyboardist for both acts was none other than ‘Merton’ Mick Talbot!

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Saturday daytime, as well as a matinee all age show inside the venue, there was also a scooter cruise taking in some of the sights of London, planned and executed by Bar Italia SC. Concluding where it started, a scooter show allowed non-riders the chance to get a closer look at the many machines that had taken part.

Saturday night featured Stone Foundation, who delivered a top performance, which included a number of tracks from their excellent current album, Find The Spirit, topped off with a scorching version of Somebody Somewhere. After a short break, the band returned, backing the first of two absolute legends of the 60s mod era. Eddie Phillips, innovative and maverick guitarist with Creation, provided an outstanding, albeit brief, audio and visual demonstration of the artrock antics he pioneered. Biff Bang Pow, Painterman, How Does It Feel To Feel and Making Time, each of which was a roof raising

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6: Eddie Phillips (violin bow almost at destruction point). 7: Kenny Jones. 8: Stone Foundation. 9: The fashion show. 10: The Mergers. 11: Les Cappuccino. anthem, saw Eddie utilising violin bows ( to near destruction) while cranking out noise from his guitar. Second and final live legend was Kenney Jones, with Small Faces, The Faces and, in more recent times The Who making up his impressive CV. Hearing half a dozen Small Faces classics, including Afterglow, Get Your Self Together and Tin Soldier was the high point of the weekend for many, with the Small Faces sticksman performing them. Guest vocalist for Kenney’s stint, Jim Stapley, had a powerful Robert Plant vocal delivery, although one criticism of many attendees there was his appearance. Long hair halfway down his back, Springsteen style denhim shirt, flares with cowboy boots... I guess no one told him he was appearing at ‘Mod’ stock?

Sunday afternoon offered a boat party up and down the Thames, while early evening there was the screening of a brand new 60s inspired film based on the style of that era followed by a fashion show, which was both well structured and delivered showcasing several contemporary outlets current 60s inspired collections.

Prior to the Crossfire allnighter, we had the The Mergers with their brand of powered up 60s Beat followed by Japanese Jazz flavoured popsters, Les Cappucino who bought the live elements of the four day spectacular to a neat ending.

The Crossfire allnighter on Sunday, as part of Modstock, provided an aural potted history of Northern Soul. Wall to wall classics from the early days, through the golden era and beyond

from Ady Croasdell, Ginger Taylor, Mick Smith, Mick H and company. Since I last visited 229 The Venue, the main room has been given a makeover, now resembling a kind of trendy cafe-bar, with new décor and furnishings. The dance floor has either been replaced, or re-varnished, resulting in a smooth, slippery surface conducive to the more flamboyant styles of dancing. Mind you, any talc sprinkled or drink spillages made the surface lethal!

Modstock over the entire four nights operated three rooms of contrasting choice of music from top DJs from all over the world.

Thursday was more of an after show party, while Friday, with Motown classics and rarities in the main room from Jo Wallace and friends bordered on an allnighter. Saturday and Sunday both went the full distance through till morning. Saturday post legends performing live monster mod anthems were served up from an International DJ line-up, while Sunday was Crossfire. Over the four nights, R’n’B, ska and boogaloo tunes were on offer in room two, from guest clubs The Boiler Room, R’n’B 123 and Mousetrap respectively Friday to Sunday. While room three, aka the Beat Basement, offered Swinging London Sounds every night from 11pm till curfew. With every night sold out, and just about every taste and element of Mod catered for, Modstock celebrating 50 years of mod did exactly what it set out to do. With impeccable style and a self satisfied swagger too.

Sarge

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